Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women, written by Catherine Thimmesh, reviewed by Anneliese White

Summary: What do kevlar, Scotchgard, LuminAID, windshield wipers, chocolate chip cookies, and paper bag folding machines all have in common? They were all invented by the female gender and featured fantastically in this book. Appropriately read during March’s Women’s History Month, “Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women” by Catherine Thimmesh features 17 females who have developed and created inventions used today. Shockingly, many women were not allowed to patent their own inventions in their names until 1809 because they were not allowed to even own property and were considered to be owned by their husbands. Thimmesh does a fantastic job of featuring a variety of women of different diverse backgrounds and ages, and features young inventors in their teens, which will inspire young readers to try their own innovations. Under each person’s story, the description of the process, patents, struggles and retrials, and biographical information are all featured, complete with illustrations. Also featured is a timeline of women inventions, bibliography, index, and glossary, which makes it a great non-fiction selection.

Straight Talk for Librarians: A great pick for upper elementary and lower middle school, “Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women,” is a near perfect nonfiction selection. It does a great job of showing the process of innovation including trial and error, and helps readers understand that inventing is not just thinking of a good idea, then becoming a millionaire. Thimmesh also does a great job showing the discrimination many women inventors faced in the past based on their gender. Inspiring for sure, many students will enjoy this title for its interesting information, and a final chapter entitled ‘Your Turn,’ walking readers through the process of protecting their ideas and moving forward with their own designs. The only critique is it would have been nice to have each woman’s life span years featured at the beginning with the year of their actual invention, and some more biographical background on each inventor. Don’t let the pink lettering fool you, this book would be beneficial for both male and female students to read for discussions on history, innovation, and STEM related topics.